


Dark Secrets

by BettyHT



Series: Robin [3]
Category: Bonanza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 07:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15925517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BettyHT/pseuds/BettyHT
Summary: Third story in the Robin series:  issues of hate and prejudice are at the center of this story as nasty stories about Robin's heritage are spread.  There's a sinister plot by a dastardly villain too that has to be uncovered and stopped.





	Dark Secrets

Dark Secrets

Chapter 1

With a sigh because he was never satisfied these days, Robin unbuttoned her dress and exposed herself. He sucked the nipple into his mouth as quickly as he could even as she was startled a bit by his teeth grazing the sensitive tissue. It had become an issue lately.

"Perhaps you need to think about weaning Sammy. He's seven months and from what my father has told me, I was almost walking by that age. Within a month or two, he could be walking. You don't want him to walk up to you and reach up to grab you like he does when he's on your lap and wants to suckle."

"I know. I have to watch those hands of his when anyone is around. It can be so embarrassing. And he only has four teeth but those are starting to be a problem too. They're sharp as razors. You may be right."

"He does eat quite a bit at the table. I'm sure that with help from Mabel, you can get him to eat and drink enough."

"I wish he could stay a baby a bit longer, but I guess that's a wish that can't come true. We may not have any more so I would like to enjoy this experience as long as I can. Soon, I can see you buying him his first boots and dressing him all in black like you and taking him out with you."

Chuckling, Adam watched her nurse their son. "He's going to look good in black too. He's got dark skin like I do. Of course, you're as dark as I am even in those places the sun has never seen." A dark look passed over Robin's face then. Adam had seen her react that way before when he had mentioned her complexion. She had always avoided telling him why, but he decided to press the issue. "Why don't you like me mentioning your coloring? It's the same as mine so I don't know why it makes you uncomfortable, but it clearly does. We promised each other honesty. You've held me to that standard a number of times. It's your turn."

Boxed in by that, Robin had no choice but to explain. "We lived in Ohio. A lot of people there were pretty sensitive about skin color and race. They called me names. Wren and Dove were lighter like my father. I was more like my mother. She's darker too, but she spent a lot of time indoors and she used some powder on her face when she went out. As a child, I didn't have that luxury. It was one of the reasons I left home and came west. I didn't think any young man there would have me after all of that."

Stunned a little, Adam was also surprised she had never told him anything about that before this morning.

"Loving someone is giving them the chance to hurt you and trusting that they won't. When we were first together, our love was still growing as was the trust. Now I trust you with everything so I can tell you my dark secret."

"Maybe there's some Indian in your family history. I think there is in mine. Pa showed me the Bible that my mother had. In it, my grandfather's grandmother is listed only as Sarah. He said that from what he was told, if anyone asked about her, they were told to mind their manners. No one wanted to explain anything about Sarah. The assumption by everyone in the family is that she was what they called a 'praying Indian' in that she converted to a Christian faith or was raised that way if her parents had converted. Those Indians who adopted a white way of living and became Christians were accepted in many communities, but their Indian heritage was wiped away and never mentioned again."

"Oh, my, that's the same as killing them. They killed what they were."

"Yes, some would look at it that way. I don't know if she was happy or not about it, but I think it's why I'm darker. There is Indian heritage in the family."

"You never told me that before either."

"I guess I never thought it was that important. Until now, I hadn't even thought about it. I certainly never was taunted about my color like you were. I was outside a lot. People probably assumed I was darker because of the sun. But maybe you're darker too because you have some Indian ancestry no one talks about. It seems to be how most families handle that."

"I suppose that's possible. My mother's family is from Virginia and lived there for many generations. There were those who took Indian women as wives in the early years. It could be the reason for the darker color of my skin and my mother."

"Oh, well, no one has said anything here and won't so there's no need to be concerned about it."

That conversation between Adam and Robin had taken place when Sammy was about seven months old. Only a couple of months later, it was going to take on a significance neither of them expected. Their lives were settling into a very pleasant routine and Adam was in an optimistic and upbeat mood. One morning a couple of months later, he again watched Robin nursing Sammy. She was doing less and less of it mostly in the morning and at night.

"Now I do need to get going. I have to get working on that new deal. The contract is very profitable but there are deadlines that have to be met."

For the past two months, Adam had been working on a deal with the railroads. He had designed a trestle for them in consultation with their architects and engineers, set up a cutting schedule for timber, set a milling schedule for the lumber mill, and worked out a transportation schedule for the freight haulers he had hired. When the trestle was built, the Ponderosa would see a profit from all four aspects of the building of it so they had been able to undercut the bids of everyone else on the project by vertical consolidation of their businesses. The pieces of the trestle were to be numbered at the mill so that when they arrived at the site, they could be fitted in place with the least amount of labor. That meant that the railroad company was saving money on their construction labor as well and were happy about that too. If this project worked out as well as it looked like it could, Cartwright construction would be in great demand and profits would grow. The outlay in expenses was not much more than their usual so the cash flow was impressive, but as Adam said, they had deadlines to meet. He needed to supervise all aspects of the project closely to keep everything moving along well. The last part of the project depended on Joe buying the horses they needed to pull the freight but that was nearly completed too.

"Will you be back home tonight?"

"Yes, I'm only going to the lumber mill today and then to talk with Joe about the horses. It may be a bit late, but I'll be home."

"Good, it makes me nervous when you're not home at night. Mabel is good, but it's not the same as having you here."

"We've talked about hiring a man to help around the place. Then when I'm gone, there would be someone here."

"Except I don't know who I would trust enough to be that man."

"Well, we're going to have to find someone. When the construction starts, there are times when I may have to go to the building site and that will mean I may be gone for a week. Of course whenever I go to the timber camps, that's three days at least. We need someone here."

"Maybe ask Hoss who he thinks would be a good choice. I asked Candy, but he suggested that young man they just hired, the one Ben got out of prison, the one who's here on parole."

"I've met him. He has a surly streak, but you might like him. How about if I invite him to dinner one night?"

It was Robin's turn to be stunned. "You would hire him to protect me and Sammy?"

"Hear his story, and talk to him. You might be surprised. I was. Remember, he saved Pa's life too. He might be worth taking a look at. He could probably do with a bit of mothering too and you and Mabel would be good at that."

"You've talked to him and you like him?"

"I've talked to him or rather we had words. He's rather prickly around everyone."

"But he's the one you think would be good to do this?"

"I think he would be fine with you women, and he needs to be needed."

"Why was he in prison?"

That made Adam pause. He should have anticipated the question and had not. Too focused on his business plans, he hadn't given full consideration to what Robin would think about his idea. Knowing though that honesty was the only option, he reluctantly told her. "He killed his stepfather. Now he was very young and there were extenuating circumstances. A boy doesn't always realize there are other alternatives to drastic action. I'm not going to say the man deserved to die, but he certainly contributed to what happened to him."

"I get the picture. All right. I'll talk to him about it, but I'm not making any promises."

"Neither am I. I'm not sure he will even consider the job. I'll have to talk to Pa about it first anyway, and then I'll have to talk to him. Now I do need to get going." Leaning down, Adam kissed his wife softly and then kissed the top of his son's head before he left.

On the Ponderosa, the young man he had been discussing with his wife was standing with Candy and watching two gentlemen approach the ranch house to meet with Ben Cartwright. They had driven into the yard and asked where they could find him. It was early, and Candy was certain they were not expected. That in itself was rather rude for it was rather early to be dropping in as unexpected guests, but the attitude of the men was that it didn't matter either. Griff stood by him and had a similar opinion.

"Those two are trouble."

"At least we don't have to talk to them."

"We may have to do worse."

"What? Why?"

"I've seen men like that a lot. They don't care about anybody else. They've got a plan and anybody who stands in their way is in for a lot of trouble."

"You can tell all of that by how they walked into the house?"

Griff shrugged, but inside the house, Hoss was getting the same impression by how the two men addressed his father and demanded a meeting dismissing him as if he didn't matter. He walked with them to his father's desk regardless of how they acted and waited there for what they had to say to his father. They seemed irritated by his presence and perhaps by having a witness. Hoss could see that his father was ill at ease and also irritated and waited for the fireworks to begin because he assumed the two men were going to propose something his father wasn't going to like. Then, his father was going to let his displeasure show once he knew what they wanted. What they said though surprised both of them.

"We'll get right to the point. You have frozen other construction companies out of some very lucrative work with the railroads. Your method means we cannot compete. We do not own timberlands like you do. In the future, you will raise your bids to the same level or higher than ours. We'll tell you in advance what those numbers should be."

With a smirk, Ben looked at them as if they were crazy. "You think you can come in here and demand I do something like that for no reason."

"Oh no, we have a good reason for you to do it. If you don't, we'll publish the information we have that your son has married a black woman and fathered a mixed race boy. Who will do business with you then? We're allowing you to keep that secret and stay in business. That's the deal we're offering."

"That's ridiculous. Get out of my house."

"Fine. Talk with your son. Find out the truth and we'll be in town waiting for your reply." The man dropped a card on the desk.

"You have my reply. Get out!"

To emphasize the point, Hoss stood and pointed to the door and then escorted the men out. His glowering look let Candy and Griff know that the meeting had not gone well. Griff looked at Candy with a triumphant smirk. He knew there was big trouble on the way. He wasn't happy about that as he was grateful to this family especially Ben for taking him in, but it was a good feeling to have your judgment validated. When Candy looked at him and gave him a look that said he was impressed with his evaluation of things, he felt proud and hoped he would be able to do more to show how much he appreciated what everyone here was doing for him. He knew that sometimes he let his temper show too much, but he was trying to control it. Candy had told him the Cartwrights had pretty good tempers themselves and understood his difficulties. Nothing had happened yet to verify that bit of information, but it would explain their tolerance for some of his bad behavior although he didn't think Adam liked him much. He guessed it was because the man in black seemed to be cool as ice most of the time and didn't like the hot-tempered young hand his father had hired.

Chapter 2

"They have to be talking about Robin. The only one who has a son is Adam." When Joe got to the main house to talk over the work for the day, Ben and Hoss had shared what the two men had said.

Hoss and Ben had discussed it for a short time before Joe had arrived. "That's ridiculous though. Robin isn't black. She isn't any darker than Adam is."

Joe wondered though what the strategy could be. "Pa, why would they say something like that?"

"I don't know. Perhaps they're using it as a threat thinking that the slander they intend to use will scare us into giving in to their demands."

That made sense to the brothers, but Joe had another concern. "How are we going to approach Adam about this? He's going to be really upset."

"Onliest way I see to do it is to tell him straight out, but I don't think he's going to be home today. He's supposed to be up at the lumber mill seeing to the final instructions for the logs coming in from the timber camps. They're starting in on that trestle job."

"He's supposed to check in with me today about the horses for the hauling though so I'll see him. Do you want me to tell him?"

"I think we should all be together when he hears. Maybe Robin should be here too."

"Pa, ya think mebbe we oughta let Robin know what's going on? I mean, it's gonna be about her too."

"I'm not sure if we ought to tell her before we tell Adam." Ben was torn. Telling Robin first could make Adam feel that they had interfered, but she was here and he wasn't. They could ask her advice too about talking to Adam. It was possible that she would like to tell the news to Adam. He brought up all those points with Hoss and Joe.

"Pa, I think you or me ought to go talk with Robin. I'm guessing this is gonna shock her some too, but she's got a right to know. Then we can decide what should be done next after hearing what she's got to say."

Joe had what he thought was an even better idea, and Melody who had been listening agreed. "Joe's right. If both Papa and Hoss go there, it will be more like a family meeting and not make her feel like she's being put on the spot. Discuss it with her like you all did right here."

Hoss was smiling. His wife didn't talk a lot in family discussions, but when she did, she always had something really good to say, at least it was in his estimation. Usually, as they did now, they agreed with him. Joe headed out to work, and Hoss and Ben headed over to Adam's house to speak with Robin because they assumed correctly that Adam would have already left for the lumber mill. They arrived at the house to find Robin coming out to sit on the porch with a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other.

"Oh-oh, this looks serious. To have my father-in-law and Hoss here at the same time makes me think there's something big to talk about, but Adam has already left."

"We thought he probably had, but Hoss and I came to talk to you. We have news and we need your advice too."

"Do you want coffee? I can have Mabel bring out a pot."

"That would be very nice. We had breakfast so we don't need any food." Hoss looked disappointed at that making Robin smile.

"Maybe Mabel can bring a few biscuits out too." Robin was gone only a few minutes. Mabel came out with her carrying a tray of cups and biscuits, and Robin had the pot of coffee. Mabel said she would take care of Sammy if he woke while they were there talking, and then she retreated into the house to give them privacy.

"Now what brought you here this morning?"

Shocked by the news they brought, Robin wasn't as surprised though as Hoss and Ben had expected. She explained why with the taunts she had received as a girl because of her darker skin.

"Many in Ohio are very sensitive to the race issue. Where we lived, many of the people had relatives in Tennessee and Kentucky. You know it is kind of funny because Adam and I talked about this only a short time ago. His skin is like mine, but no one ever called him a darky. Here no one would think that. In the south, they have the one-drop rule. They're much more sensitive to the issue."

Hoss was frowning. "What's the one drop rule?"

"It means that if you have one black ancestor, you're black even if all your other ancestors were white. So let's say that six generations back, there was a black woman in your past. That would make you one sixty-fourth black. You would have sixty-three out of sixty-four ancestors who were white."

"That's plumb crazy. Ifn I was to put one grain of pepper in my salt shaker, that don't make it pepper. It's still salt. Anybody seeing it would say it was salt and probably not even notice the pepper in there. Heck, how could anybody even see that a body had a black ancestor? I mean, would a person look black after so many generations?"

"You would look as white as anyone else probably. By law though, you would be black."

"Dadburnit, but how would anybody know?"

"Like people around here know who your father is. People live in the same area so they know who your parents are and your grandparents and so on. They would know."

"Well, couldn't you like move away and live somewhere where folks wouldn't know?"

"Yes, and people do that. It's called passing." Robin was uncomfortably aware of how similar it was to what she had done coming west to escape the taunts and innuendoes of her hometown in Ohio. No one out here had ever said anything like that to her.

Ben took a deep breath and sighed. Both Hoss and Robin knew he had something important to say. He looked down too before he said it so they knew he was having a difficult time saying it. "Robin, is there any chance that these men know your past in Ohio and are using that as the basis of this threat?"

Almost sighing in relief, Robin managed to keep her expression as neutral as she could in answering. "It's possible. They could be using that and hoping that Adam didn't know and that you would be very upset to know. I don't think anyone here would believe it." Robin was relieved that Ben didn't ask if it could be true. She had wondered herself sometimes if her mother might have left Virginia with her father to pass as white if she was a fraction black. Miscegenation laws in Virginia would not have allowed them to marry either, but in Ohio, no one would have known and it would not have been a problem. Robin had avoided the thought that it could be true and had not written her parents to ask them. Based on this new crisis, she thought she probably should but wondered if they would tell her. She realized then that Ben had been speaking and she hadn't been listening.

"I'm sorry. My mind was wandering and I didn't hear what you said."

"That's all right. We came here with some disturbing news. Now what I said was that we weren't sure if we should tell Adam or if you wanted to tell him."

"I think you should tell him. He'll have questions about the two men and exactly what they said, and you can answer that far better than I can."

"All right. I'll have Joe tell him to come see me when he stops by to check on the horses for the freight wagons. You're sure you're going to be all right?"

"I'll be fine. Just be sure you've calmed Adam down some before you let him ride home tonight." Robin smiled as she saw the looks Ben and Hoss had to that. They all knew how this would set off the oldest son's temper. Robin thought for a bit longer. "You don't suppose that could be what this is all about? They want to get Adam and you upset and angry to see if they can get you to do something rash?"

Frowning, Ben thought about that and had to consider that it was possible. He agreed with her and suggested that they needed to find out a lot more about these two men. Hoss knew what they looked like so Ben sent him to town to alert Roy and to have Hiram hire someone to start doing some digging to find out as much as possible. Roy would find out the basic information, but they might need to know more than that. Then Ben went to tell Joe to send Adam up to the main house after he saw him later that day. Then it was a matter of waiting.

When Adam saw Joe, he knew something was wrong but couldn't imagine what he was going to hear when he saw his father. Joe's news about the horses was all good with the teams ready to go and drivers and wagons all set for the jobs that needed to be done. After thanking him for a job well done, Adam headed up to the house to see his father because Joe wasn't saying anything more than there was a problem and their father wanted to talk to him about it. When he heard the threat that had been made, he didn't know at first whether to be angry or to start laughing.  
"They're going to tell people that Robin is a black woman! Now who in their right mind would believe such drivel?"

"Apparently they think some might. By their accents, I guessed their background is southern, but they could be from southern Ohio. I never was good at telling one southern accent from another. I talked to Robin, and she said she was taunted for her darker complexion when she was a child. Perhaps these men knew her then or knew of her. Anyway, they plan to try to stir up trouble with it."

"I knew about Robin's past. We had talked about it. I told her about Sarah, and we talked about the possibility of her having an Indian ancestor as I probably do. I don't think anyone here is likely to care much about that."

"Probably not here, but what about the companies that we want to do business with in the future? Will they care? I think that's what these men have in mind."

"If they care, then damn them. We got along without them in the past, and we can get along without them in the future. We can't do all the jobs anyway. We should get enough of them to make good money even if some won't do business with us. I have a meeting in Carson City in two weeks. I can drop the news on them there and see if such a story would affect them doing business with us in the future."

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"If it isn't out by then, better to have it out in the open than hanging over our heads, don't you think? I'll present it as I did to you here. We think that each of us has an Indian ancestor and therefore we have a darker complexion than most. However some have insinuated that my wife may have a black ancestor instead. It doesn't matter. She's white. If they don't like it, they can tell me then. We still have a contract to complete." Adam thought about his wife with her dark complexion and her black wavy hair that he loved to press his nose into and inhale her scent. He couldn't imagine the pain she must feel with all this talk about her. There might be more talk, but he was going to be there to support her and love her. She wouldn't face it alone. He would be there, and his family would be there too.

"One thing, son. Please be sure that Robin is all right with your plan before you go ahead and do it."

"I will. We'll talk. While I'm here though, I have a question for you. I hate leaving Robin alone when I have to take these longer trips. I was wondering if I could ask Griff to bunk in at my place and head over here in the mornings to work. I know he's on parole, but I think he would be the kind of man to have watching over the place. He's always alert to what's going on around him."

"You're right about that, but Candy has taken him under his wing, and I would hate to interfere with that. He trusts Candy and follows his lead better than anyone else. I'll talk to Candy and see if there's someone else who could do the job as well. I'm actually surprised you would pick Griff."

Adam grinned. "Maybe I miss having a little brother around."

"Well, we have a few others here who could stand a to have some guidance from a big brother type. I'll get you some names, and you can talk to them about the job."

After that, Adam headed home to talk to Robin and Ben went to the bunkhouse to talk with Candy.

Chapter 3

After Ben left the bunkhouse, Griff was curious about what he had wanted with Candy and found out. "Adam wants to know if one of the men wants to bunk over there, do some light work there when needed, and report here in the mornings otherwise. His wife is a little nervous being alone when he's gone on these trips he has to take. Mister Cartwright wants the names of some young hands who might be willing to do that."

"Well, I can bet you don't want my name on that list."

"Actually, Mister Cartwright said that Adam had asked if he could ask you to do it, but Mister Cartwright would rather have you here working with me."

"He asked for me? You must be joshing me."

"Nope, he asked for you. You gotta start learning that just because somebody says something critical, it doesn't mean they don't like you. It could mean they want you to do better. That means they care."

"But he ain't never said anything real good to me."

"Maybe you ought to try doing something real good so he has a reason to do that. Walking around like you're ready for a fight with anyone who looks at you isn't a way to get someone to say something nice, now is it? Hoss told me that Adam was like that some with Joe when he was younger. Joe was kinda wild and untamed. You probably wouldn't guess it by how he is now, but he did some crazy stunts. Get him talking some time, and he'll tell the stories himself except he comes out sounding pretty good in his versions. Adam is a lot older, and kinda knows better about a lot of things. You have to expect he's going to look at you like a kid and tell you what to do."

"I never thought about it like that."

"I know. Anybody who ever told you what to do was probably somebody who was mean or nasty or both. Not every boss or person who tells you what to do means you harm. Some want to help. Well, I have to get to my quarters. Everything is squared away here, and things are all set for tomorrow."

Candy could see that Griff was thinking and was glad about that. Too often, Griff reacted emotionally and didn't think things through. He hadn't had the opportunity to be a thinking man until he got to the Ponderosa, so this was a new experience for him in a lot of ways. Getting used to all the different kinds of men on the Ponderosa was an experience too. He was used to guards and inmates most of whom fit patterns. The Cartwrights and the men who worked for them weren't so easily pigeonholed.

The next morning, Candy had some names for Ben to give to Adam, but they were interrupted by the arrival of the same two men. They were as impolite as they had been the day before demanding Ben's answer.

"I gave you my answer yesterday. Now get out. Your information is erroneous. People around here will laugh at it."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. You may find out that we keep our promises and that your confidence in your friends and neighbors is excessive."

"Hoss, show them out again! Candy, please give him a hand."

The two men didn't need any more encouragement. They grabbed the two visitors by their jackets and belts and literally threw them out of the house and into the dirt in the yard. Standing there, they challenged them to object. Looking around at the other hands who were watching the spectacle, the two men didn't do anything except mount up on their horses.

"You'll be sorry you did that, and your whole family will be sorry they aren't cooperating with us."

As Hoss made a move toward the horses as if to drag one or both of them from their saddles, the two men quickly rode off. Candy waited for a moment for Hoss to cool down at least a little before he asked what was going on.

"Aw, they threatened to spread a nasty rumor about Robin ifn we didn't let them tell us what bids to put out there on contracts."

"What kind of nasty rumor?"

"They're sayin' she's a black woman. Seems there's some kinda rule in the south that even if you got one black in your family, it makes everybody black. Silly rule. Not even likely that Robin has one black in her past. Most likely her family's got an Indian back there same as Adam does. Ain't that unusual."

"Ah, that would explain the black hair and darker skin then. Robin has that too so it makes sense."

"Yeah, I'm guessin' they'll be trying to stir up trouble for us now. They don't like this new system Adam has for bidding. He can undercut anybody whenever he's a mind to. I don't know why they're so all fired upset though. We can only do one job at a time. There's lots of other jobs out there."

"Maybe they expect that with the profits you make, you'll be expanding and force them out."

"Well, I'll have to come up with another brother or two for that to happen. Adam's as busy as he can be right now, and me and Joe got all the work we kin handle."

"Yeah, but I bet your competitors don't know that."

"No, probably not, and they're likely to stir things up a bit, but I don't know that it's gonna make a bit of difference."

It didn't. The men spread their story based on information that one of them had from Ohio and tales of Robin from when she was a youngster. The Cartwrights told their hands what they thought the story was. The version that at some point in Robin's mother's family, someone had married an Indian woman made sense to most people. The Cartwrights said that most families kept such things private, and families there agreed for some of them had the same history and kept it private. It was the usual way of handling such a situation. People might know but didn't usually talk about it. After about a week, hardly anyone spoke about it any more and in less than two weeks, the whole thing had died away. The two men were frustrated and went to their partners to come up with a different plan.

On the Ponderosa, there was excitement of a different sort. Ben came to the bunkhouse to ask one of the men to ride to town for the doctor. Griff was there and volunteered to go. Ben said he would rather he go over to Adam's house and Joe's house to get the ladies to come to the main house. Another man went to get the doctor. Melody was in labor, and Robin and Doreen had experience so they would be great helpers to have there until the doctor arrived.

"You'll have to help them pack up their little ones and help with them. Get Doreen first because she's closest. Then you can go pick up Robin next. Mabel might take care of Sammy but if not, you'll have to bring him along too."

Hoss had been summoned earlier when Melody wasn't feeling well which turned out to be the first indication of her labor. When Doreen got to the house with Maribeth, she was complaining of a backache and needed help up the stairs. Ben got worried then thinking there was a chance there were going to be two ladies in labor at the same time. He warned Hop Sing, and when Robin got there, he told her the same news. He was correct. Within a couple of hours, Doreen knew and had to be helped to a guest room. Hoss and Robin were tending to Melody, and Hop Sing had lots to do getting things ready. Ben called on Griff to come help.

"What can I do, Mister Cartwright?"

"Someone has to entertain and feed Maribeth, and someone has to sit with Doreen and make sure she has what she needs. I can't do both. So, which job would you like until Adam and Joe get here?"

Dumbfounded for a moment, Griff finally stammered out that he probably would be more comfortable sitting with Doreen if he only had those two choices. Ben smiled and told him to go up the stairs and down the hall to the third door on the left. He had Maribeth in his arms and she was insisting on a cookie. It was a couple of hours before Adam and Joe were back that day. It was another eight hours before the doctor arrived because he had been busy with an emergency on a ranch far from Virginia City and hadn't gotten the news until he returned to town. He was still ten hours early for the delivery though which was long and arduous. Finally the exhausted family and their helpers heard a baby cry. Sighs of relief were more pronounced than exclamations of joy which came a bit later.

Hoss was up those stairs as soon as he was summoned by the doctor who looked like he had been in labor himself. He told Hoss to spend only a little time with his wife and son because Melody was very tired and needed to sleep. When Hoss entered the room though, all he saw was his wife's smile and a tiny bundle she was holding to her. Melody pulled the receiving blanket back so that Hoss could see his son for the first time. Hoss knelt beside the bed and looked at his first child.

"I never thought I'd have a baby so small. He's got such tiny arms and tiny legs. He ain't no bigger than a puppy."

"Hoss, he's huge. That's why he took over twenty hours to be born. It took a lot out of me to squeeze that one out. He can hold his head up and he's just been born. Do you know how rare that is?"

"I know, darling, I know, and I thank you with everything I got that you gifted me with a son, but darling, he ain't even as big as my hat!"

"He's big enough, and Doctor Martin says he's as healthy a baby as he's ever seen. He likes the name we gave him too."

"Good, because Gabriel is a fine name. I like it. He's probably gonna be a big man and that's the kind of name a big man needs. Nobody gonna mess with Gabe."

As they talked, another baby's cry was heard. Doreen's contractions had begun many hours after Melody's and her baby was born only an hour after Gabriel made his appearance. Then it was Joe's turn to run up the stairs. Doctor Martin finally was going to get some rest. Moving back and forth from one room to the other and delivering two babies after not getting any sleep the night before had taxed his strength to the limit. Ben invited him to have something to eat and sleep in the downstairs guest room. Adam was already headed home with Sammy and Robin. Ben put Maribeth down for a nap and then crawled into his bed for the same. Joe sat with his wife and listened to the noises in the house diminish as everyone left of fell into bed.

"Another beautiful girl. Pa's not getting his wish that I get a boy to do to me all the things I did to him." There was a giggle at the end of that.

"I'm sorry you didn't get a son."

"Don't be sorry. I'm happy to have a beautiful healthy daughter. We can have more, and if we get a son next time, that will be fine. If not, I love girls. So, now we have Lilliane. Maribeth is probably going to be jealous."

"Yes, girls can be a handful too, and your father won't be able to offer any advice about raising girls."

Ben was all out of advice on how to handle the two men who were creating trouble too. On a day when they should have been celebrating, at dinner he had to break some bad news to Hoss and Joe.

"While the men were out working, those two men approached two of our hands with a message for me. They want the deal they proposed or my sons may be in danger. They said that by now I should know they keep their word."

"Dadburnit, I shoulda tore 'em limb from limb like I wanted to when they was here."

"I wanted to do the same. I know the feeling. Now I think we have to go to Roy, and we need to find out more about these men and who they're working with. Tomorrow, I'm going to town to talk with Roy and with Hiram. I want him to hire someone to dig into who these men are and find out as much as he can. Roy will find out the basic information, but we're probably going to need to know more than that."

"What do you want us to do, Pa?"

"You and Joe have to take care of your families. I want you to stay right here for now. Adam has a meeting in Carson City tomorrow. I'll ask him to stop by to talk to the governor while he's there. Maybe we can get some help from his office. Meanwhile he has a man at his place now, and I'll tell him to stay there every day. Joe, I think it might be best if you and Doreen and the children stay here in the main house for a while. It will be more comfortable for Doreen with Hop Sing fixing meals and I can help watch Maribeth."

"Thanks, Pa. I think that's probably a good idea."

"What about Adam, Pa. Ya think it's safe for him to go to Carson City?"

"Hoss, they're not likely to do anything until they get my answer."

"Oh, yeah, so when you're in town tomorrow, you kin tell 'em. By then, Adam will probably be on his way back home before they can come up with a plan."

Things worked out mostly as Ben predicted except he was disconcerted by the response of the two men to his answer to their proposal. It was as if they had expected it and were ready with their counterproposal. It was chilling.

"We told you your sons were forfeit is you didn't comply. One down and two to go unless you agree soon."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think you know, and if you don't, you'll soon find out."

"If you have harmed my son, you won't find any place to hide until you're rotting in hell."

"Big words. We have not harmed your son, but that doesn't mean he's all right. And will you feel that way when you only have two sons left and wonder how long you will have them?"

"I'll have the sheriff on you."

"There are no witnesses to this conversation. It's the two of us against you. Checkmate."

Furious, Ben went back to Roy to tell him what had happened. Roy told him there was nothing he could do without evidence of a crime. Frustrated then, Ben rode home. He told Hoss and Joe what he had learned and then rode to see Robin to explain to her what had happened in town. He knew how upset she was going to be and wanted her to come to the main house.

"But what if Adam comes here and wonders where we are?"

"He'll know."

It was a long night, and Adam did not return. The next day, Ben and Hoss rode to Carson City and found that Adam had never arrived there. They backtracked and found no trace of him. Hoss said that they only thing he could think to do was to go back to Adam's house and try to track him from there. There wasn't much daylight left by the time they got to Adam's house, but Hoss started out anyway with Candy and Griff with him. Ben agreed to send more hands and supplies the next morning.

Chapter 4

It was difficult tracking the next day, but for Ben it wasn't nearly as difficult as it had been to tell Robin the news the night before. How do you tell your daughter-in-law that her husband is missing and that you have no idea where he is. He had been missing for two days with no clue to his whereabouts or what had happened to him. The only positive sign was that Hoss had picked up his trail from his house. At least they had that, but Ben knew that following a two-day old trail was going to be arduous and could be impossible. He had to hope and told Robin the same. It was as difficult as they had guessed it might be. Several times they lost the trail and had to backtrack and work their way forward until they picked it up again. It was a short distance from the Ponderosa where they found the spot where he had been ambushed. The good news was that there was no blood or sign of any significant fighting. Four horses had ridden on from that point. It made it easier to follow for a time until they moved into some rocky terrain. Then it was back to the backtracking and searching for the trail over and over again. It was midafternoon before they got a break. They were in the midst of a search for the tracks of the horses when Griff was nowhere to be found. Ben asked Candy where he had gone and the foreman had no answer. A short time later, Griff rode back to them leading Sport.

"I found him a little ways away. He came to me when I took out the apple I kept from my lunch. I remember that Adam fed him apples so I knew he liked them. He doesn't have a saddle or a bridle. Somebody took everything off of him and set him loose. My guess is that he didn't go too far though. Mister Cartwright, I think your son is around here somewhere near."

"Pa, the boy makes sense. Sport wouldn't stray too far from Adam lessen he was scared or too hungry. He's probably been grazing around here waiting for Adam to come get him again. Ifn we fanned out, maybe we kin find him."

"We could wipe out any tracks that were here too by doing that."

"Pa, it's been three days almost. Ifn we don't find him soon." Hoss left the rest of the sentence unsaid. He didn't need to say it because all the men there knew what he meant.

"All right. It does make sense. Let's fan out and ride in sight of each other. Look over your section of the pie real well and ride back and forth looking for any place a man could be."

The men split up evenly and took off in different directions. Griff rode slower than most talking to Sport. "Now, you know where he is. I know you do. I think if you wanted to do it, you could lead me to him. I need to do something to make them proud of me. I need to do something to pay these men back for trusting in me. Now, can you help me out here, sport? Hey, I can see where you get that name. It's kind of a natural, ain't it." The horse had perked up his ears as Griff talked. He kept pulling to go off toward the right even though that wasn't in the straight line Griff had intended to go. "You trying to tell me something or you just ornery like your owner? All right, I'll go with you. You are stubborn. You two are a pair, aren't you?" Crossing a small ravine, Griff saw a ramshackle cabin set against the opposite side and well hidden by brush. A man could easily be hidden there and never found. He decided to check it out. Sport gave no resistance as he rode to the cabin that was more of shack. He dismounted and tied his horse and Sport to a small sapling. He moved to the shack and called out asking if anyone was inside. No one answered but he saw there were a lot of boot prints in the dirt. Thinking he had found what they were looking for, he opened the door cautiously.

"Oh, damn, don't you be dead."

Rushing to Adam's side, he felt for a heartbeat and was relieved to find one. Then he stepped outside and fired off three shots as he had been taught almost as soon as he had been hired on the Ponderosa. He guessed it might take them some time to find him so he got his canteen and headed back inside. With no way to remove the cuffs binding Adam to rings attached to the center post, he tipped Adam's head back and poured a small amount of water into his mouth hoping he would swallow. He didn't at first but he did cough and then move his head from side to side. Griff wet his kerchief and used it to wet Adam's face because he seemed very hot. He was still doing that when Hoss entered the cabin.

"He's alive, but he's cuffed to this post."

"I'm gonna tear those two yahoos limb from limb next time I see 'em. I don't know how we're gonna get these cuffs off of him."

"If I had a nail or something like it, I think I might be able to open those cuffs."

By then, Candy and Joe arrived and heard the request. They began working at some boards in the wall of the shack until they managed to get a nail out intact and handed it to Griff. He set to work on trying to open the cuffs as Hoss worked on getting Adam to drink some water as he gradually regained consciousness. Hoss poured some of the water over his head and over his shoulders and chest to cool him down. By the time Ben arrived, Adam was groggy but beginning to respond to them. Griff got one cuff open and Ben moved to wrap that arm around his shoulders letting Adam sag against him. Then when the other cuff was removed, Hoss helped him lower Adam to the floor. Adam sighed in relief for he had been forced to stand at that post for almost three days and without food or water. Hoss kept giving him small sips of water not allowing him any more than that knowing he would retch if he got too much in his stomach at once. Joe brought in another canteen that they poured over his chest and head to help cool him down. Ben looked up at Joe.

"I don't know if we can get Adam home tonight, and Robin is sick with worry. Can you ride home to tell her he'll be all right. We'll get him home to her as soon as we can, but he needs to drink more water and eat something before we let him try to ride. It will probably be too late tonight to make the ride."

"I can do that. We saw the saddle and tack laying outside so he can ride Sport when he's ready. Or do you want me to bring a wagon back?"

"Meeting us with a wagon tomorrow might be a good idea. Even if he can ride, I don't know if he'll be strong enough to make the whole trip."

After leaving his bedroll and canteen, Joe left for home with some of the hands, and Hoss, Candy, and Griff stayed with Ben to help care for Adam. Adam was still groggy after an hour, so Ben had them start to set up a camp and prepare for a night there. After cleaning up the cabin as well as they could, Ben and Hoss did their best to clean Adam up too, bandaged his wrists, and kept giving him water until he said he had enough for a while. It was late before he finally was able to tell them what had happened. It was about what they expected so they didn't ask any questions. Because he was so exhausted, they didn't want to tax his reserves by making him to talk any more either. Soon after he told them what he knew, Adam fell asleep on Joe's bedroll. Ben sat beside him with his hand on his son's shoulder. Hoss put his bedroll on the opposite side of him. They slept there to be sure that they would be close if Adam needed anything. He slept through the night though.

In the morning, Adam wanted water first and then asked what smelled so bad in the cabin and was chagrined to realize he was the source. There wasn't much of anything they could do about it other than get him home where he could get a bath, a shave, and clean clothing so that's what they set out to do. That took quite some time as he was still weak after his ordeal and they had to stop often to let him rest. It was a great relief to see Joe in the distance with a wagon after a couple of hours. Robin was on the seat beside him. It didn't matter the condition Adam was in when Robin saw him as she threw her arms around him the moment he dismounted and she didn't let go. With Hoss' help, they got Adam into the back of the wagon where he was able to stretch out on the mattress Joe had thought to put in there. Robin sat beside him holding his hand and talking softly to him every now and then until he fell asleep.

Once they arrived at the ranch, Hoss helped him from the wagon and Robin helped him to the washroom. There he was able to strip off the filthy clothing and slide into a bath that Hop Sing had waiting for him adding hot water as soon as he was there. After his bath, he shaved and dressed in clean clothing. Then he kissed Robin and held her for several minutes without saying anything even as he felt her tears on his cheek. He was close to letting tears fall too but managed to hold them back by focusing on the anger he had against the men who had done this to them. They sank down and sat on the bench in the washroom holding each other.

"I'm so sorry, Adam. I feel like this is all my fault."

"How could this be your fault?"

"It all started with the story about my past."

"They only used that to try to get to us. They would have used anything they could find. It didn't work so they tried this. You don't have to feel guilty at all. None of this is your fault. It's the fault of two men and I know who they are. I want to go to town and find them."

"You're not strong enough to do that."

"I managed to ride part of the way home, and town is closer than that ride I took."

"Please trust your family to handle this for you."

The tremor in her voice and the way she held him made Adam reconsider. "All right, I'll trust them to take care of them. I need to be here for you and Sammy."

When they went to the great room, Adam's father and brothers were almost as relieved as Robin had been that Adam had accepted that he shouldn't accompany them to town. Adam sat on the settee and held his son on his chest with Robin beside him. His family left soon after that seeing that he was in good hands and fully capable of taking care of himself again, but they did alert Candy that he should keep an eye on the house to make sure that everyone there stayed safe. In town after telling Roy what had happened, they accompanied Roy to the hotel to find the two men only to discover that they had just checked out. A search through town yielded nothing. They had clearly left or were in hiding. Roy had their names and their general background. A trip to their lawyer Hiram Woods' office and Ben found out who their usual employer was and that was enlightening. He guessed they would have a good conversation once they were home and shared the news with Adam.

"They work for what?"

"I think you heard me. They usually work for the railroad company that you're working with. Most often they've been hired to go out and get the land the company needs for right-of-way. You know the kind of men who usually do that kind of work."

"But they're already getting a great deal from us. Why would they want us to bid higher and get higher bids on their construction projects?"

"It doesn't make much sense to me either, but if we could get hold of these two men, I'm sure we could have our answers."

"But they're gone."

"Yes, but they went too far this time. Roy put out wanted posters on them."

"But I'm the only witness."

"Yes, I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere for a while. We know they have at least one other man working with them and possibly more."

Hoss had a concern then. "Pa, so far it's been Adam and they made threats against me and Joe. Ifn you protect us well enough, it don't mean they're gonna give up. What if they decide that one of your grandchildren or one of our wives would be an even better target?"

"I know. I've been thinking about that. We're going to have to set a guard, but we're short-handed with the three of you tied up here and the fall-roundup coming up soon."

"So what we gonna do?"

Chapter 5

As the men sat silently considering their options, Robin interjected what at first seemed a stray thought. "Adam has told me that the Paiute are very good at sneaking through the trees without being seen and hiding so that you could walk right by them without knowing they were there."

Ben and Joe stared at her wondering why she had said that, but Hoss and Adam began to smile. After a moment, so did Ben, but Joe had to ask.

"Why is everybody smiling? And why did Robin start talking about the Paiute?"

"I think my daughter has come up with a solution we could try. We could hire some of the Paiute to guard the Ponderosa. They wouldn't interfere with anything we're doing, and anyone approaching would never see them. It might be our best chance to get our hands on these two men."

"Pa, one of us is going to have to go up there to make the deal."

"Yes, Adam, I know. I think Joe is the best bet to do that if he's willing."

"You bet I am, Pa."

"Take several men with you. We didn't get Adam back only to take a chance on losing you. Take some cattle as a goodwill gift that they can have regardless of the answer they give you."

"I'll leave tomorrow morning. I'll go to the bunkhouse and tell the men I'll need to go with me."

"If you don't mind Joe, could I do it. I'd like to thank the men who helped find me." So Adam headed to the bunkhouse and thanked the men who had ridden with his family to find him. He added special thanks to Griff for finding Sport. When he turned to leave, Griff asked to speak with him. Outside, Griff hesitated.

"Out with it, man. You're the one who wanted to say something so just say it."

"Can't you ease up on a man?"

"You are a man so I treat you like one."

Pausing then, Griff was momentarily surprised, and then he smiled. "You do, don't you. You don't coddle me at all. You know, I never looked at it that way. Your father still treats me like a boy sometimes trying to protect me and such. You treat me like any of the other hands."

"You are, aren't you?"

Griff grinned then. "I wanted to thank you for asking your father if I could work for you and be there to protect your family when you were gone. I know that may not seem like much to you, but to me that was a big deal. It meant a lot."

Surprised a bit at that, Adam decided to go all out. "You're a good man, Griff. I see a lot of potential in you. You think things through when you're not being mad about something. Control that temper of yours, and you could be a great asset here or anywhere."

"I've heard you have some experience in that temper control thing."

It was Adam's turn to grin. "I do. I hope you do better than I did in getting control of it. There are still times it gets the better of me."

"Like it would if you ran head on into those two men." Adam's look then was all the answer that Griff needed. "I hope I never get you mad at me."

"I doubt you could ever get me that angry. Thank you again for what you did. Now I need to get inside. My wife worried enough the last few days. I don't want to make her worried again."

The next day, Joe headed to the Paiute camp to make the offer of employment. Ten Paiute young men were happy to have the chance to legally hunt white men even if they had to bring them in alive. The pay was one steer per day for guarding and five per man they brought in alive. Shots were fired at Hoss and Joe one day as they worked, and within an hour, two men were brought to the Ponderosa main house trussed up like antelope shot on a hunt and slung over their horses. The Paiute young men seemed almost disappointed that their work was done, but they were very proud of the seventeen steers they were able to get in payment to drive back to their camp. That would feed a lot of their people for quite a while and the leather would be very useful too.

At the house, Adam stepped out to identify the two men. He had a feral grin that made the men cringe. They expected to be brought to the sheriff and were shocked by what Adam said.

"Pa, Griff and I have been talking. I like his idea. We're going to take these two and put them in that shack where they left me and in the same condition. Only difference that I see is that no one is likely to come looking for them."

Momentarily stunned, Ben knew that Adam must have an ulterior motive for what he was doing so he played along. "I guess if we turned them over to the sheriff, they'd only say it was their word against yours. It might even work with a jury. All right, let's do it your way."

The two men were stunned never expecting that men like the Cartwrights would do something like that. "You can't do that to us. We'll die."

"That's what you left me to do."

"We were going to tell your father where you were."

"When? I was almost dead when they found me. Another day, and I wouldn't have likely made it."

"Jackson was supposed to come back and check on you."

"So that's the name of the third one."

"Yeah. We don't know why he didn't check up on you."

"Doesn't matter now. It would have been nice though if he had checked on me. I do remember well what those three days were like. At first, I was only uncomfortable. I had to stand and couldn't rest at all. I had to piss and hoped someone would come so I could at least get relief. That didn't happen and you know what I had to do. I'd fall asleep too and then the pull on my hands would hurt so much I'd wake up and have to stand up on legs that began to ache, but there was nothing I could do about that either. I got hungry, but nothing was as bad as how thirsty I got. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and it actually hurt to pull it away. You're going to find that is one of the worst feelings there is. You wonder if you're going to be able to do it at all. Your lips stick together too, and you've got nothing to wet them with. You have to rub them together to try to use the dryness to keep them from sticking together. Then you hear things and imagine things and realize your mind is going too. You know you're dying and all alone with no one to comfort you on the way out of this world. That's what it will be like. I know. It's an eye for an eye. I guess that's the justice you get."

"But we never meant for you to die."

"It doesn't matter because that's what would have happened if my family and friends didn't figure out where I was in time."

"It wasn't supposed to happen that way."

"So who hired you to do all of this?"

"Nobody. We did it all on our own." The man looked uneasy as he said it. Clearly he was lying and meant to call their bluff if they were bluffing.

They weren't. Adam told Hoss and a few others to get horses saddled up, and then they headed out with the two men still trussed up. By late afternoon, they were at the old shack. The two men were carried in and dumped on the floor.

"Adam, we gonna put 'em in cuffs like you were?"

Contemplating them lying on the floor, Adam turned to Griff who stood beside him. "What do you think? Leave them like this or untie them and put them in the cuffs they had on me."

Staring down at the two men who were clearly worried now, Griff looked up at Adam. "Those Paiute sure know how to tie a knot. It would take us a long time to undo all those ropes."

"Good point. We'll leave them like this. There that's settled and saves us some time too. All right, we're ready to go. Justice has been done." Adam turned and let the others file out of the cabin ahead of him. Turning back at the door, he smiled that feral grin again. "Enjoy your time in hell, boys." Then he pulled the door closed.

The two men inside began yelling almost as soon as Adam stepped away from the cabin. They yelled for him to come back. He didn't and mounted up to ride away but not too far as they listened to the two men yell inside. When one said he'd tell them anything they wanted to know, Adam turned his horse around and the others followed. When he opened the door, both men stared at him as he stood in the doorway.

"Who said they were willing to tell us everything?"

"Tatum, keep your mouth shut. We're dead men if we say anything."

"Neal, we're dead now if we don't. I'm talking if he says I can run."

Griff knelt down next to Neal and tied a kerchief around his mouth effectively gagging him. Then he looked up at Adam. "Time to let the other bird sing."

"Listen, I'll tell you what you want to know if you let me go. I can be hundreds of miles away from here before he knows."

"Who knows?"

"I'm not telling his name until you say you're gonna let me go. He'll have me killed."

"You're in no position to bargain here, but I can say I'll turn you over to the authorities and let them know you're in danger. Otherwise, I can leave you here while we go look for this Jackson. He might be more cooperative, and then we won't need you at all."

By not saying anything more, Adam left the implication that the men would be left to die in this cabin if Jackson talked. It worked. Tatum nodded his head in defeat and began talking. What he said was surprising and yet not so surprising in this era of greed and corruption in business and government. They took both men to Carson City then and turned them over to the authorities there explaining what had been done and that both men were in danger. They asked about Jackson and found that he was in the jail for trouble he had caused in town. They asked for the chance to speak with him. As soon as he saw Adam, he looked scared. They knew then that he would talk too and he did spilling everything that he knew which backed up what Tatum had said. With those two talking and likely to get some leniency for doing so, Neal caved in too and agreed to testify. That gave them all the evidence they would need to convict the man behind the scheme.

However, he had probably hired others so the governor's office wanted to find out who those men were before arresting the subject. They wanted to put the man under surveillance and wait a day or two before arresting him. Adam and his family were asked to stay close to home and keep up a guard until they were told the man was under arrest. It wasn't the happy ending the group had hoped to convey when they got home. Griff especially was angry thinking that there was going to be some cover-up that would let the man get away with what he had done. Adam tried to explain it to him so he wouldn't be upset and would understand the whole situation.

"Not only did he threaten us, he threatened his own company and his partners. They got an enormously profitable deal with us. He wanted to take that away. That was money out of their pockets. He was getting kickbacks from some of the other contractors. In fact, apparently, he got quite large kickbacks. That was money directly out of their pockets."

"What's a kickback?"

"Companies put in bids higher than they needed to be and when they were accepted, he got the difference between what the company actually wanted to be paid and what they were being paid. Let's say the bid is for seventy-five thousand dollars so they bid one hundred thousand dollars. If he awards them the bid, they pay him the extra twenty-five thousand. They're happy because they got the bid so they won't complain and he pockets the twenty-five thousand. The problem is he basically took twenty-five thousand away from his company. Now multiply that by every contract that company makes and you can see how much money he might be pulling from his partners."

"So when you bid so low and cut him out of the deal, you cost him a lot of money?"

"Yes, and by consolidating the various parts of the deal, we cut him out of several kickbacks costing him a lot of money."

"Will he go to prison? I can't see a man like that going to prison."

"He will, but I can't see a man like that doing well in prison."

"No, I can't either." Except that Griff was grinning when he said it. Then Griff got a more sober look. "Adam, you're going to have to watch yourself."

Pausing to consider what the young man had said, Adam had to agree with him. "You think he has accomplices we don't know about because no one could have managed all of this alone."

"That's right. I know from when I was in prison that the nasty head of the gang could only do what he was doing because others were helping, and sometimes it was someone you thought you could trust. That's how they stayed in power."

"The problem is finding out who that is."

"I have an idea if you want to hear it."

After discussing the idea with Griff, Adam talked with his family and then they went back to the governor's office to see if they could work out a plan. They did, and by the time Adam and the others were headed home, they were ready to put it into motion. Adam had asked to meet with the company representatives to explain his absence from the previously scheduled meeting. That would bring the principal players to Virginia City for a meeting so they could carry out their plan.

Chapter 6

As expected, Robin wasn't happy to have Adam playing hero and undercover agent again. She knew he was good in that role, but reminded him that his circumstances had changed.

"You're married now, and you have a son. When I met you and you were doing something like this, you didn't know what you wanted and you were alone. Now you have a plan for your future and you have a family."

"I took chances then that I won't take now. Robin, I'm not doing this alone. Griff will go with me to meet the man, and there will be others outside in case things don't go well."

"Griff's very young for what you expect him to do."

"I trust him though. He's looking forward to doing this."

"I think it's because he wants to impress you. He looks up to you now. I'm not sure why."

"Hey!"

"Oh, you know what I mean. He doesn't know you that well, but yet he seems to want to help you. It seems he's formed some kind of bond with you."

"There, so you know he'll do all he can to make sure this works, and Hoss and Joe will be outside with agents from the governor's office as well as Roy. I'm sure he won't want to be left out of this." Adam wrapped an arm around Robin as he leaned down and kissed her cheek as his other hand caressed her opposite cheek and then slid slowly down her neck and across her chest stopping only briefly at the neckline of her dress before beginning to unbutton it. "Now what can we do to take your mind off this plan and make you relax?"

"Hmm, I think you know exactly what to do to make that happen."

"I am looking forward to going back to our house where we can be a bit more adventurous."

"And noisy?"

"That too. I feel like a boy hiding from my father yet when I'm with you. I know it's silly but I remember my father telling us we could never bring a woman up to our bedrooms."

"You didn't bring me. I was up here first putting Sammy to bed."

"You know what I mean. Now enough talking."

He had the buttons undone by then so the dress slipped to the floor. It didn't take long for the rest of her clothing to follow and then she helped him get rid of his. Pressed together, touching, and kissing, it didn't take long to end up in the bed either. Resting together later, Robin ran her hand over Adam's chest as her head rested on his shoulder.

"These are the best of times."

She put a finger over his lips before he could say anything more because she didn't want to hear anything about the worst of times. Instead she wanted to savor the warmth and feeling of safety and security that making love with her husband always brought to her. He rolled up on his left side, and after a couple of years of marriage, she knew what he wanted and did the same. He fitted himself against her spoon fashion and wrapped one arm around her waist holding her to him. She felt him kiss the top of her head before he settled into the pillow. His hand caressed her softly for a short time and then his breathing slowed and began a steady rhythm. She knew he was falling asleep and closed her eyes content for the night. They could talk again in the morning, but she wasn't going to let anything take away these hours of feeling so good.

In the morning, Robin was quiet. Adam waited for her to tell him her thoughts, and when she did, he wasn't surprised. He had married her as much for her intelligence and caring as anything else.

"You're right. This will finish it and we won't have to worry about you having a target on your back. Once this is settled, we can move back home and life can be as normal as it can ever be for a Cartwright. You have taken as many precautions as you can take, and this is better than waiting for them to spring another surprise on us. I don't want to have someone come tell me again that you're missing or tell me something even worse. There is one thing I want to change in your plans, though. I want to be in town. I don't want to have to wait hours to know how it all turned out. Waiting like that is torture."

"That's agreeable to me. We can take a room at the hotel. It makes sense too if we're going to be having a meeting. Go ahead and pack for us. Will we be taking Sammy with us?"

That startled Robin who had neglected to think about that. "Yes, no, I mean, I hadn't thought about that."

"If you can stand to finally wean him, this would be the best time. He can eat enough without your suckling him at all. If you're not here, he won't even have the option. He'll have to take milk from the glass as he does at meals."

The arrangements were made then with Ben staying behind with the ladies and Hoss and Joe going with Adam and Griff. Candy and the hands were there to provide any protection that might be needed. By that evening, Adam and Griff headed to the target's home. He was surprised to see them but did invite them in as if there was no problem. He soon found out that there was a problem when Adam pulled a pistol on him and told him to hand over any weapon he had. Once disarmed, he demanded to know what Adam wanted.

"Barnes, right now, I want you to sit in that chair and let Griff here tie your hands behind you. If you don't, I'll shoot you in the head. Is that clear enough to you?"

Barnes complied and Griff stepped away when he was done.

"What do you want now?"

"What I want? What I want is for you to be dead. I know you're the one who ordered me to be locked in that cabin where I almost died. You're the one who spread those nasty stories about my wife. I don't know what you have planned next, but you won't get a chance to do it."

"If you kill me, others will know it was you. Surely people saw you come here."

"Maybe they did, but I'm leaving. Griff here will do the deed for me. You see, I've never actually murdered anyone. He has. He was in prison for it until he saved my father's life and got paroled for doing that. He's willing to do it for me. I'm going to go someplace very public with lots of witnesses. It shouldn't take me more than a half hour to do that. Once I've managed that, Griff here is going to shoot you. He'll leave then. No one will suspect that he has a reason to kill you. They may suspect me, but I'll have a perfect alibi."

"I have friends who will know it was you who were responsible. They'll take care of you."

"Well, you'll be dead, so what will that matter?" Adam motioned to Griff who pulled his pistol. Adam moved toward the door but paused there as if in thought. "Griff, maybe we should reconsider. If he's willing to tell us the names of the men he's working with who might still try to kill me, then we could take him to the sheriff with the evidence we have against him, and we could go kill those other men."

"Makes sense to me, boss."

"I'm not going to tell you those names. They'll kill me."

Adam and Griff both laughed then. Barnes frowned at the predicament he was in.

"All right. I'll tell you, but you have to take me to the sheriff first."

"Nope, you could clam up there because you would feel safe, and I wouldn't have the names. Tell us now, or Griff shoots you."

A shot was fired through the window then shattering Barnes head and making a horrible mess on the wall behind him. Adam and Griff dove to the floor wondering what had happened. There was shooting outside for a few minutes, and then there was quiet. Finally Hoss' voice was heard.

"You all right in there, Adam? Griff?"

"We're all right. What the hell happened out there?"

"One of the governor's men shot Barnes. Said it looked like he was getting loose. None of us saw it. He's wounded now, and Roy's taking him to the jail. We think he's in on it. The other agent is the one who wounded him and took his gun away so we think he may be all right. We're not too sure about that right now either. You two stay put there until we make sure there ain't no more shooters out here."

By the next morning, it was all sorted out. Adam had gone back to the hotel to tell Robin what had happened. Griff, Hoss, and Joe had a room there too. In the morning, Roy was there to tell them the story. The agent who was shot had a brother who worked for the railroad as a bookkeeper. He was the one working with Barnes on the kickbacks and keeping false sets of books and forging papers and contracts so the other partners never knew what was going on and how they were being cheated. A telegram had been sent to Sacramento to have that man arrested too. Finally the whole plot had been exposed and the men involved were arrested. Adam got a telegram from the other partners thanking him for his service to them and promising him more contracts in the future. The best part was that the deadlines on the current contract were extended so that there was no worry about defaults. They made it easy for Ponderosa Construction to complete all requirements without penalty and they would be paid in full. It was a jovial bunch who traveled back to the Ponderosa.

"Pa, it's over. We found out who was behind all the trouble and they're all locked up. We may have to testify at their trials, but that won't take much time. The evidence is overwhelming."

"That's good, Adam."

"Pa, you look worried yet."

"We've lost a couple of weeks on that big project. I don't know how we can make up that much time."

"The company was so grateful for what we did, they've extended the deadlines by four weeks. That takes care of the delays we've had and gives us a two-week cushion too. We should be able to complete the project and get paid in full with no penalties."

"Now that is cause for a celebration. Hop Sing can make a huge dinner."

"If you don't mind, Pa, I would rather get home. It's been gracious of you to have us here, but I'm anxious to get home. William must miss us, and I want to get back to work as soon as I can."

"Of course, the rest of us can celebrate."

"Ah, Pa, I'd just as soon take Doreen and the children and get back to our house too. It's been too long since we've had a chance to be just us. I hope you don't mind, but I was looking forward to being with my family tonight."

"Of course, you do that."

"I'll still be here, Pa. Ya said somethin' about havin' Hop Sing make a big meal. I'm all for that!"

Laughter greeted Hoss' statement, and there was a bustle of activity as Adam and Joe got their things and their families and headed toward their homes. The big house seemed rather quiet to Ben after having all of the family there for a couple of weeks as they worried about the threats against them. He didn't miss the threats, but he did miss the children especially. Knowing that, Melody asked him if he could please rock Gabriel for a while so she could go help Hoss get the bedrooms straightened up a bit to help Hop Sing who was busy in the kitchen.

As Hoss and Melody got to the top of the stairs, he gave her a big kiss and hug. "Thank you, darling. That was just what he needed."

In the rocking chair by the fireplace, Ben rocked slowly and hummed some songs he could remember that helped soothe his sons when they were infants.

Chapter 7

When Adam got home, William jumped all over him in joy. The dog was seldom that demonstrative but he had missed his owner very much. The hired hand who had been watching the place for Adam and making sure that everything was being done as needed smiled to see the dog so happy.

"He ain't been that chipper at all since I been here. He followed me around wherever I went but never acted at all like that."

"I guess he missed me, Jake. Everything all right here?"

"Sure is. Mabel had me get in some supplies figuring you'd be back soon. When I was in town, I got your mail for ya too. It's inside on your desk. Otherwise, nothing special happened. Things about what you'd expect."

"Good, you'll be here for the rest of the week. I'll be heading to the lumber mill tomorrow, and then later in the week, I'll have to make a trip to the timber camps. If you have time, I could use the corral expanded a bit."

"I kin do that for ya. Anything else ya want, jest let me know."

After that, Adam went inside to find that Robin had already found the mail and was reading a letter from her mother. Mabel was playing with Sammy who was enjoying having his wooden blocks and other toys again. Robin had an odd look as she read.

"Bad news from home, sweetheart?"

"No, nothing unusual. Father is still suffering since his heart attack. Mother says he can't travel so they have declined our offer to visit again. I doubt they will ever come out here. She suggests that we should visit them when and if we can."

"Why the frown then?"

"Well, I told her about the trouble we were having here. I didn't tell her everything because I sent the letter before you were kidnapped. I only told her about the stories that were being told about me. I guess I wanted to know if there was an Indian in the family history to explain the skin color she and I have."

"And what did she say?"

"She says that there probably is some Indian ancestry that explains her slightly darker skin but that my sisters must have taken after my father. She says that my ancestry should be no one's business out here. She says that if you accept me for who I am than that is all that should matter."

"I guess she follows the tradition that most do that such ancestry is not to be discussed."

"I guess so. She talks of my father's failing health and that he might not have many more years. She told me here how my sister Dove lost a child to stillbirth."

"Perhaps when this project is done, we could go for a visit. By then, Sammy will be older and better able to withstand the trip. It will be spring and the weather will be better for travel by then."

Robin looked so hopeful that Adam knew he could never renege on that offer. "Oh, could we? I would like Sammy to meet his other grandfather before it's too late."

"He's so young he probably won't remember him later."

"That's all right. We can have a picture taken. We can write about it. At least they will be together once."

"We'll do it. I have to be here for the project, but once it's done, we'll go. I'll tell Pa not to plan on me being here in the spring."

"He's not going to like that, is he?"

"Maybe not, but that's the way it's going to be. There'll be a lot of money in the Ponderosa accounts by then because of the work I've done. He shouldn't complain."

In April, Adam helped his family board the train and waved farewell to his father and brothers as the train pulled away from the station. Several days later, after a reasonably pleasant journey, they arrived in southern Ohio at the home of Robin's parents, Daniel and Rose. The following week was a whirlwind of meeting Dove and Wren and their husbands and children. There were parties, church services, and tours of the community. Robin was getting frustrated that she didn't get time to talk with her mother about the issue that troubled her the most. Each time she tried to make reference to it, her mother found another subject to discuss or found another activity they should do, or made any kind of excuse she could find. Robin turned to Adam in the early morning of the last day they were scheduled to be there before returning to Nevada.

"It's not my imagination, is it? I get the feeling that my mother doesn't want to talk about this with me."

"It's not your imagination. I've drawn the same conclusion. She is quite obviously trying to avoid the subject altogether. If you want to know, you're going to have to force the issue today or let it go. It could be that she doesn't know any more about it than she's told you."

Adam held his wife and kissed her. Her almond shaped eyes, full lips, black curly hair, ample bosom, and buxom figure as well as the darker skin still made his inner fires burn. He was looking forward to when they would again have some privacy to enjoy each other's company.

The discussion Robin had with her parents ended up being more about what had happened to her because of her darker skin than about her heritage. As Adam suspected, nothing had been talked about in Rose's family so she knew no specifics of her ancestry to share with Robin.

"So the taunts I got as a child were because they saw something in me that reminded them of black people because I do have some Indian heritage. Is that why you never objected too much when I went west on my own as a single woman."

Again Rose and Daniel looked embarrassed. This time Rose answered. "With the way men acted around here, we didn't think anyone would ever ask you to marry. We hoped that in the west with their more free attitudes, you would find a man to marry. We never thought that you would become a saloon girl. That shocked us. I guess we didn't understand much of how a woman would get along in the west. We are so happy though that you found Adam, and that you're happily married now."

"I have to say that I am a bit disappointed in you." With that, Robin left the room. Adam walked out silently behind her. In the guest bedroom, Robin cried for quite a while before she was able to talk.

"I want to leave now."

"No, you need to clear the slate with your parents."

"They're not my parents. They washed their hands of me, didn't they?"

"They are your parents. They made mistakes. All parents do. We'll make mistakes too with Sammy. We can only hope he understands that we aren't perfect because no one can be. Now you have to find it in your heart to forgive them. It won't be easy, but you can see how frail your father is now. You need to offer them your forgiveness now before it's too late."

"I need to be the understanding adult because they weren't?"

"Yes."

"How did you get to be so wise?"

"It's easier being wise when you're not the person in the middle of the storm. I love you with everything I've got to give. Nothing will ever change that. If it wasn't for the paper thin walls in this house, I'd show you right now too."

"You're insatiable."

"I wouldn't call it that. I would call it being frustrated. Nothing on the train and then nothing here because it's your parents' house and the walls have no soundproofing at all. Next, we'll be on the train again. We may have to stop somewhere and take a hotel room for a day."

"Or wait until we get home. It will only be three or four days now."

Pulling Robin into a fierce hug, Adam whispered in her ear. "It seems like an eternity now."

"Maybe tonight, if we can be quiet, we could take care of that eternity issue."

They did, and Robin needed the emotional release as much as Adam did. She had made peace with her parents after dinner offering her thanks to them for raising her and loving her. She forgave them for keeping secrets and letting her go off on her own into the unknown. She told them too what Adam intended to do. The next morning, there were hugs all around as Adam and his family left for Nevada. At least there, Sammy's darker skin wouldn't be an issue as he would be a man of the outdoors most likely as his father was so people would assume his skin color was as much a result of that as anything else. It was a good situation in a nation so filled with prejudice and hate.


End file.
